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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	248
Proposal	Establishment of the Outreach Committee and approval of the Committee PPs
Presenter	Fundraising Committee and Georgia Green Party
Floor Manager	Jody Grage
Phase	Closed
Discussion	10/16/2006 - 11/12/2006
Voting	11/13/2006 - 11/19/2006
Result	Adopted
Presens Quorum	32 0.6666
Consens Quorum	34 A Majority of Yes and No Votes

Background

While most committees address outreach to some extent, the Outreach
Committee (OC) is focused entirely on getting the Green message out to
people who have never heard of the Green Party or who don't know much about
GP-US. We want everybody in the USA to know about our 10 Key Values, and we
are developing tools and materials that state, local, and individual Greens
can easily use to educate and engage the public.

In July 2006, we launched our first two print projects: "Democracy Is
Coming," a 4-page handout that is an introduction to the Green Party; and an
English-Spanish palm-sized handout of the 10 Key Values. Both are available
for free download at http://www.gp.org/committees/outreach, and printed
copies of "Democracy Is Coming" are available in bulk from the online store.
Upcoming projects include web banner ad campaigns; and bilingual 10KV
handouts in Arabic, Chinese, and other languages.

Proposal

The National Committee shall recognize the Outreach Committee as a standing
committee and approve its Policies & Procedures.

Resources

CONTACT: Jody Grage; 2428 NW 56th, Seattle WA 98107; 206.71801529;
jody@gp.org

http://www.gp.org/committees/outreach/

Becky Weber (DC) amandlagreen at yahoo dot com

Richard Scott (AZ) scotty at zygotz dot com

The ad-hoc Outreach Committee began preparing these Policies & Procedures
(P&Ps) in December 2005, shortly after its first teleconference in November
2005, but before application to the National Committee for approval as a
formal committee. The Outreach Committee was formed in the recognition of
the need for unified, creative, and engaging messages to new Green Party
members. A number of existing committees, such as the Media Committee, Green
Pages Editorial Board, Fundraising Committee, Merchandise Committee and the
Communications Committee are already engaged in such work; the purpose of
the Outreach Committee is to unify talents and avoid duplication of efforts.
Getting more people each day to register, vote, and identify as Greens is
vital to the Green Party.

Outreach Committee: Policies and Procedures

Outline

I. Mission statement and Committee structure

II. Membership eligibility, conduct, and removal
1. Eligibility
2. Membership
a. Selection
b. Provisional status
c. Transferring membership to a different state
d. Definition of active and inactive members
1. Active member
2. Inactive member
3. Leave of absence
3. Terms
4. Responsibilities, Appropriate Conduct, and Censure
a. Responsibilities
b. Appropriate conduct
c. Censure
5. Resignations, Grounds for Removal, Removal Process, and Appeals
a. Resignations
b. Removal
c. Grounds for removal
d. Removal process
e. Appeal process

III. Functioning of the committee
1. Workflow
2. Voting
a. Consensus procedures
b. Conduct of meetings
3. Grievance procedures

IV. Appendices
1. Netiquette guidelines
2. Consensus procedure
3. Minutes and the role of the minute taker

I. Mission statement

The Outreach Committee (OC) recognizes the need to develop innovative,
engaging long-term strategies to attract and recruit new members to the
Green Party. Numerous existing committees are already engaged in various
forms of outreach, and the OC is charged with unifying these efforts to
reinforce consistent messaging. The OC brings together representatives from
groups such as the Media Committee, Green Pages Editorial Board, Fundraising
Committee, and Merchandising Committee to avoid
duplication and to reinforce the work that each is doing. Its primary
purpose is to inform, engage, register, and recruit potential new members of
the Green Party. Secondarily, it will strive to better inform all US
residents about the Green Party.

COMMITTEE STRUCTURE

The Committee shall consist of Green Party members from the various state
parties who either have been approved by their state parties and/or are
currently serving as delegates to the GP-US Coordinating Committee.

Members who have not participated on line, in subcommittees, or on
teleconferences in the last three months shall be considered inactive
members and shall not be counted toward a quorum. An updated roster shall be
sent to the e-mail list at least every three months.

Two co-chairs, preferably reflecting gender balance, shall be elected with
staggered terms of two years each. If more than two candidates are nominated
for a single co-chair position, the committee shall vote using IRV. Members
may nominate themselves. Vacancies shall cause a vote for a replacement
co-chair. A recall election of a chair may be called, following the
procedure for any proposal.

The responsibilities of the co-chairs shall include keeping the committee on
task, maintaining a current roster of committee members, conducting votes,
and communicating with NC and SC members for the Outreach Committee and its
subcommittees. Co-chairs shall submit formal monthly reports to the NC list
detailing committee activities. The co-chairs shall come to explicit
agreement and continue to consult with each other about how their joint
responsibility is to be shared.

The committee may create working groups and subcommittees.

II. Membership eligibility, conduct, and removal

1. Eligibility

The Outreach Committee is a skills-based group which consists of Greens who
are already actively involved with existing GP-US committees, caucuses,
state/local offices, and working groups. Due to the overlapping nature of
the projects of the OC, part of the role of OC members will be to act as a
liaison between the OC and other committees. Sensitive strategy information
will be discussed and therefore it is crucial that OC members can be trusted
with access to such info, as demonstrated by their conduct with other GP-US
committees, caucuses, state/local offices, and working groups. Members
should bring experience in one or more of the following, or related areas:
media, public relations, information technology, fundraising and
development, or other areas as necessary.

Prospective members should provide information on their Green affiliation,
skills, and background to the OC, via the co-chairs. A résumé, curriculum
vitae, or website URL with work samples is helpful, but not required.

Technical skills: The OC communicates via e-mail, wikis (on the internet),
and phone conferences. Thus, familiarity with computers and access to the
web and e-mail is required. Wiki tutorials will be made available for those
who are not familiar with them.

2. Membership

a. Selection: Outreach Committee members may be proposed for appointment to
the OC in accordance with GP-US policy and procedure by a state Green Party,
Green caucus, local Green Party, or other known Green working group. New
members shall be selected by the OC, as per Article III of the GP-US bylaws,
from those proposed by a state, caucus, or network; at the invitation of the
OC; or from volunteers. The respective state parties and/or caucuses must
approve all prospective members, in writing usually via e-mail, to the
co-chairs. The OC shall select new members by consensus, giving due
consideration to the skills and commitment to growing the Green Party of the
prospective member. Decisions about Outreach Committee membership must be
based on the merits of a prospective member's demonstrated skills, expressed
intents, and performance as a provisional member. If consensus cannot be
reached, then approval shall require a two-thirds majority vote by the
active membership of the OC.

b. Provisional status: New members approved by the OC are considered in
provisional status for the first three months. The OC and the provisional
member can use this time to evaluate the new member’s strengths and
weaknesses and determine suitability for a particular role and/or for
continued membership. Members who have been formally reprimanded for
inappropriate conduct, failure to fulfill their responsibilities, or other
reasonable cause that could result in removal if continued, are also in
provisional status. An established member may be placed in provisional
status by a majority vote of the OC.

c. Transferring membership to a different state: OC members should contact
their new state as soon as possible via e-mail when moving to a new state,
and cc the OC co-chairs, to seek approval for continued membership. A member
who is awaiting such approval is in provisional status. Assuming a
good-faith effort has been made within three months of the move, OC members
will retain their voting rights in the interim.

d. Definition of active and inactive members:

1. Active member: Active members are defined as those members who have:
posted to the listserve or wiki in the last three months, or participated in
a telephone conference call. (See Voting, below).

2. Inactive member: A member who has done none of the actions listed
above as evidence as active membership is considered inactive. A member who
has been inactive for six months, is, effectively, no longer a working
member and may be subject to removal from the OC.

3. Leave of absence: OC members may request a leave of absence from the
co-chairs for a stated period of time up to 12 months; upon confirmation of
leave of absence by the co-chairs, this time will not be counted as
inactivity.

3. Terms

Length of service: OC members do not have set term limits. The OC requests a
blanket waiver from the National Committee so that more than three members
per state may serve on the OC. Advisors may participate on the listserve or
phone conferences.

Roles are discussed on an on-going basis and are subject to change.
Co-chairs serve two-year terms. The position of production editor for
producing the tabloid or other materials is a work-for-hire position and
that person is responsible for all federal, state, local withholdings due in
regards to compensation for work.

4. Responsibilities, Appropriate Conduct, and Censure

a. Responsibilities: OC members are expected to serve in any of the roles
defined above and to devote a sufficient amount of time to get their tasks
done. Once a task is accepted, the member is expected to finish it, or to
find another who can take on the work and complete it by deadline. Members
are expected to work to promote and improve the Green Party of the United
States and refrain from conduct that is detrimental to the OC or the Green
Party.

b. Appropriate conduct: Members in good standing are expected to be active,
working members of a team. To that end, they are expected to fulfill
membership responsibilities and work toward smooth functioning of outreach
projects.

1. The listserve exists for the business of GP-US Outreach Committee
projects; hence, posting that interferes with existing or potential projects
cannot be tolerated. Please refrain from posting tangential messages.

2. Members of the OC’s listserve are expected to observe netiquette
guidelines (see Appendix I), keep off-topic posts to a minimum, and
immediately take any off-topic discussion off list if requested by another
OC member.

3. Members who consistently violate netiquette guidelines or whose
posts prevent timely progress or completion of OC projects may be
temporarily removed or censured from the list.

c. Censure: The OC reserves the right to censure a OC member by removal from
the listserve if the member repeatedly violates appropriate conduct. Censure
is considered a serious action.

1. A vote of the OC should be held before a member is censured or
permanently removed from the listserve. Grounds for censure should be
documented and presented to the OC for consideration prior to voting.
2. However, in an extreme situation, the OC officers may temporarily
remove a OC member but must then immediately seek consensus, or two-thirds
majority support for continuing such actions (i.e. removal or censure) from
the full OC.
3. All votes regarding censure or removal require a quorum of the OC.
4. The offending OC member will be allowed to stand in his/her own
defense and cast a vote regarding removal or censure.
5. Removal or censure from the listserve may be short-term, long-term,
or permanent, and each allegation will be judged individually and term of
censure will be set by consensus of the OC.
6. Two or more incidents of censure by the OC will constitute grounds
for permanent removal from the OC.
7. If and when GP-US creates or appoints a working judicial authority
to review such matters, an appeal may be made to such authority.

5. Resignations, Grounds for Removal, Removal Process, and Appeals

At the time that these P&Ps were submitted, the BRPP was in the process of
creating a proposal for removal procedures. Once such a proposal is approved
by the National Committee, the OC will modify these P&Ps in accordance with
National Committee guidelines.

a. Resignations. Members may resign by sending a notice of resignation to
one or both of the co-chairs via e-mail.

1. Resignations must be in writing, and should be copied to the
member’s state party.
2. Members are enjoined not to time their resignation in the midst of
OC projects. All resignations will take effect after current projects are
completed, ensuring their portion of the project has been completed and they
remain available for questions.

b. Removal. OC members may be removed from the OC for inactivity or for
cause, by either the OC or the state, in accordance with their procedures.

c. Grounds for removal include, but need not be limited to:
(i) Inactivity of six months or longer
(ii) Misrepresentation of the policies or decisions of the OC to
states, the CC, the public, or others with whom the OC interacts
(iii) Falsification of content or distortion of facts about the Green
Party of the United States
(iv) Plagiarism
(v) Sustained or repeated disruption of production or other OC business
(See Appendix 1)
(vi) Distributing or informing non-OC members about sensitive strategy
or plans for OC projects in such a manner that will potentially harm the
impact of such projects
(vii) Sustained or repeated disruptive use of the listserve for a
personal agenda, non-OC business, or repeated netiquette violations
(viii) Misrepresentation of skills or falsification of credentials
(ix) Sustained or repeated dishonesty, aggressive or violent behavior,
or, in extreme cases, a single such action
(x) Repeated failure to meet deadlines that have an impact on a
project's timely completion

d. Removal process:

1. If consensus is not reached regarding the removal of a OC member, a
two-thirds majority of the active membership is sufficient to remove a
member. Once this has been reached, the member in question may be
temporarily removed from the listserve if the nature of the member’s e-mail
postings is, in part or whole, the reason that they are being removed from
the OC.
2. Prior to actual removal of membership, the OC or some portion
thereof must first request resignation from the member.
3. In presenting such a request for resignation, the OC or individual
members must detail the reasoning, providing evidence of one or more of the
above grounds for removal.
4. If the member in question declines to resign, then, as a courtesy,
the OC may request recall from the state/caucus.
5. If no response is received within one week of a good faith effort to
contact the individual via e-mail and by a phone call, the OC must send
notice of removal to the state/caucus, or, as a courtesy, request recall.
6. Should the state/caucus refuse to recall its member, or fail to
respond in a timely fashion, the OC may then remove that member from the OC,
providing a statement outlining its reasons for doing so, with
aforementioned evidence, notifying both the member and the appropriate
state/caucus party contacts (i.e., state party chair, state party recording
secretary, and the Secretary of the GP-US).
7. A member removed by a state/caucus may be retained, as an observer,
contributor, or advisor to the OC should the OC so decide. Such a decision
should be reached by consensus, or, failing that, two-thirds approval.

e. Appeal Process: After nine months the ex-member may appeal the decision
of the OC, or, after one and a half years, re-apply for membership. An
appeal or reapplication should be made in writing and sent by e-mail to the
co-chairs. The burden is on the ex-member to demonstrate why they should be
reinstated. The OC will review the appeal or reapplication and inform the
ex-member of its decision within three month. If and when the GP-US
identifies a working judicial authority to review such matters, an appeal
will be made to such authority.

III. Functioning of the OC

1. Workflow

a. Work plan: The OC may choose to produce an annual work plan for the
year’s projects as a guideline. The work plan will serve as a flexible
outline, to be adapted as needed.

b. Work process: The OC shall choose the working process that best suits its
members, according to its work plan, availability of its members and the
flow of work.

2. Voting

Online voting takes place among the OC when a member submits an e-mail to
the listserve with the subject line “Decision Item: XXX” (where XXX
indicates the topic to be voted on). The default time to cast a vote, unless
otherwise specified, is 48 hours, from official proposal of a motion or
action. Voting may also take place via phone conferences; in this case,
members who were not on the phone or who did not vote may also cast a vote
on line within 48 hours from the beginning of the phone conference. The onus
is on the members who were not on the phone call. Final tallies are taken
from those votes or formal abstentions submitted. A quorum of one-half the
active membership is required for voting on major decisions, that will have
an impact on future issues of the OC, such as approval, removal, or censure
of members; changes to the policies and procedures; or grievance decisions.
For less significant matters that affect the timeliness of an OC project, a
quorum may not be
necessary or practical, and simple majority voting will suffice.
Abstentions, like yeas or nays, must be actively submitted. Nonparticipation
in a vote does not constitute an abstention.

a. Consensus procedures (see Appendix II)

The OC shall at all times attempt to come to decisions by consensus,
ranked voting (in the case of selecting contributions for publication), or
by majority voting (simple majority when it is a timely OC project decision
that immediately impacts the project at hand; or two-thirds, if it is a
major decision that will affect future projects as well), if consensus
cannot be achieved.

b. Conduct of meetings

The OC will strive for consensus, encouraging input from all members
regarding important matters, but will operate by majority vote. All
decisions by the OC will be made by each member in good standing present
casting one vote with a majority of affirmative votes required for passage.
A majority is defined as more than half the total votes cast.

During open discussions, all present are encouraged to participate in a
respectful and supportive manner and are discouraged from speaking too long
so that all may speak. The goal of a discussion is an open exchange of ideas
without personal biases and criticism.

OC meetings will be conducted by an agreement seeking process, as follows.
In this process, all items begin in consensus mode, with the facilitator
seeking to weave the input into a unified body that gradually approaches
consensus.

If, in calling for concerns, stand-asides, and blocks, consensus is not
reached, the facilitator will make a second attempt, seeking to incorporate
the concerns of the person(s) blocking. If in the second call there are
still blocks, decision making will automatically shift to voting process for
the remainder of the item. The item under consideration must pass by a
simple majority in order to be adopted.

c. Selection of projects

The OC strives for consensus when planning OC projects. Projects are
generated via the listserve as well as on phone conference calls.

3. Grievance procedures

A grievance is any dispute, controversy, or difference between the OC
members, or between or among OC members and/or non-members regarding the OC
and/or its projects. Examples of grievances could include, but are not
limited to: unfair treatment, discrimination, or failure to follow official
rules, procedures, principles, deadlines, etc., of the OC.

a. For contributors:

Non-OC members who have a grievance about an OC project or member concerning
OC projects may present a formal written complaint to the OC. Further appeal
must go through the complainant’s state delegation.

b. For OC members:

1. The OC member must present a formal written description of the grievance
to the OC co-chairs or, in the case of a grievance against both co-chairs,
the Steering Committee member in whose portfolio the OC resides, within two
weeks of the occurrence of the difficulty. Consideration of any grievance
submitted later than two weeks from the date of the grievance shall not be
given.

2. The OC member shall discuss the written grievance with the co-chairs and
the individual or individuals against whom the grievance has been filed
within one week of its submission, or within one week of forwarding the
paper to the printer. The co-chairs shall respond in writing within one week
of this discussion.

3. If the grievance is not satisfactorily settled or if the co-chairs fail
to respond within the allocated time after having received the grievance or
after the discussion of the grievance, it shall be presented in writing to
the Steering Committee (SC) member in whose portfolio the Green Pages
resides, or to the Secretary of the GP-US if originally submitted to the SC
portfolio holder. The SC member shall schedule a meeting with the member
within two weeks of receipt of the grievance. Within one week of the
meeting, the SC member shall provide a written decision on this grievance,
or elect to refer the matter to the Dispute Resolution Committee.

4. If the problem remains undecided, the member, the OC, or the Steering
Committee may request in writing a review of the matter by the Dispute
Resolution Committee.

Any and all decisions made in accordance with the above provisions will be
made to afford the grievant the opportunity to be heard by those not
involved with the original decisions. In the event that a grievant has a
dispute with the entire OC or a significant number of OC members, the
grievance must be taken outside the OC and presented to the Dispute
Resolution Committee for hearing.

All decisions will be made based solely on the facts of the case.

All decisions made must be consistent with providing the grievant with due
process including decisions based upon taking the facts and applying the
Green Party principles.

IV. Appendices

Appendix I: Netiquette Guidelines

Please refer to “The Core Rules of Netiquette,” by Virginia Shea, which can
be viewed at: http://www.albion.com/netiquette/book/

If and when GP-US creates its own set of netiquette guidelines for use by
all GP-US groups, the official GP-US netiquette guidelines would replace
those by Shea.

Appendix II: Consensus Procedure *

Note that consensus is a specific process as well as a result. Consensus
requires people to come to unity—agreeing with the essence of a decision,
and feeling that they can live with the decision. Consensus does not require
unanimity—feeling that every detail of the agreement is exactly as you would
have preferred.

Elements of consensus:

* Standing or stepping aside

If you cannot agree with a decision for personal reasons, you should
stand aside from the decision. You will not be expected to actively
implement it, but you do agree not to undermine it. Your position is noted
in the minutes.

* Blocking or "standing in the way"

If you cannot agree with a decision, not for personal reasons but
because you can see that it threatens the group on a very deep level, it is
your responsibility to block that decision. This step is taken only rarely
and after much reflection.

Appendix III: Minutes and the role of the minute taker

Minutes need to be carefully recorded and retained. An accurate record of
the exact wording of each decision made during the meeting is essential. The
ongoing implementation of actions depends on a clear statement of decisions
and the plans for their implementation. Every item on the agenda gets an
entry in the minutes. Minutes of a meeting summarize discussions and
actions, but no names are associated with particular statements of
positions. In consensus ideas are contributed to the group as a whole. Once
uttered, they are no longer "owned" by an individual but by the group. Names
are recorded when listing those present, when committee members are named,
when individuals volunteer for tasks or when someone stands aside from a
decision.

The secretary must be able to listen and summarize accurately. The summary
is general, recording only the salient points. It can usually be done in one
or two paragraphs, covering the main thrust of the discussion, the concerns
that have been raised, and ways that were formulated to carry the discussion
along. A decision must be recorded exactly, word for word, at the time of
the decision, and then read back to the group for its approval. It is
important that the minute taker read the decision exactly as it will be in
the minutes. This wording will be binding until a consensus is reached to
change it. It is vital that everyone hears, understands, and agrees to the
actual wording of any decision recorded.

A specific statement of how the decision will be implemented should
accompany each decision. This includes the names of those who will follow
through and a timetable for their action.

The entire minutes should be written promptly after the meeting, while the
memory of the discussion is still clear. Circulate the draft minutes to all
those who were present.

* Note: Consensus and minute-taking procedures based on the work of
Lysbeth Borie and the Alpha Institute.

References

None

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